"Taxi Driver" Korean drama season one: Episode six recap

 

 Air Dates: April 9th until May 29, 2021 on SBS-TV, Saturday and Sundays at 10:00 pm

Director: Park Joon-Woo... Subs done by Sally G... This episode's rating: 12.4%

Main Cast: Bit of a large cast plus there's many guest stars whose roles are big but the episodes are an hour or longer. The setting is the Rainbow Taxi company which is a legit operation and is run by an older man named Jang. For now it seems 100% of the drivers are just your regular cabbies but there is one driver who goes beyond the call of duty and will be the first character you'll read about below. His name is Kim Do-Gi, usually in recaps use the last name for males and first names for females which I hope makes things easier. However will be referring to him as Do-Gi, there's a woman that I'll be using her last name who is Baek.

A second season began on February 17th of this year, hopefully can recap most of the episodes before that season ends and may do posts for that also. Almost all of my drama recaps for the past year have been for shows with the episodes being between 25-45 minutes and have been doing a good job at keeping them brief yet also not leaving any details out. So these recaps will definitely be longer but so much takes place in this show and will already give this series a very high recommendation. As it says in this screenshot this drama is about revenge and we need more in that vein!

Lee Je-Hoon as Kim Do-Gi.... This is a man who can do it all, if I described everything we'd be here for days! Do-Gi is the most unbeatable fighter I've seen to date in a drama, he had once been an elite member of the Special Forces division of Korea's military. Four years ago his mother was slain by a crazed killer who later committed suicide in prison which meant Do-Gi couldn't avenge his mother's death. He soon met the man below who is Jang and the owner the Rainbow Taxi, he told Do-Gi if he wants revenge to join his company. Which is a legit taxi service though Do-Gi also specializes in helping others getting back at those cruel people who have made their lives a living hell! Could add more in but that's enough for now....

Kim Eui-Sung as Jang Sung-Chul..... Owner of Rainbow Taxi and that's him in the above screenshot. Jang's parents were murdered twenty years ago and since then has sworn to avenge the victims of brutal crimes or who have been mistreated so badly. There's five members at the taxi company who do work on helping others get revenge but after two shows unsure if that number just may be a bit higher. Jang also runs an organization called Blue Bird which helps victims of crimes.

Esom as Kang Ha-Na.... The exact name as one of my all time fave Korean actresses! She's a prosecutor for the Seoul Northern District and was hell bent on finding what happened to a goon named Cho who disappeared after being released early from prison. But Ha-Na's supervisor told her to lay off the case and has assigned her to work with Jang, besides owning the taxi company he also has an organization helping victims of crime. Since the second show Ha-Na has been a bit leery of how the company operates, are they mixed up in some illegal activities?

Pyo Ye-Jin as Ahn Go-Eun....  I need to do some regular posts for her! Go-Eun is an elite hacker and tech expert who works at Rainbow Taxi and is one of five people there who work on the unknown 'revenge squad'. Go-Eun's sister committed suicide a few years back and we're slowly learning the details of it.

 Jang Hyuk-Jin as Choi Kyung-Goo.... The head mechanic at Rainbow Taxi, Choi and his assistant Park also work for the 'revenge squad'. Along with the above Go-Eun him and Park also work off site doing surveillance work and other duties.

Bae Yoo-Ram as Park Jin-Eon.... Bae and Park are a also comedy team and I've seen them paired up often in dramas.

Cha Ji-Yeon as Baek Sung-Mi.... A very mysterious middle aged lady who owns the Nakwon Company. When Jang has to stash one of the people who they've taken revenge on he brings them to Baek who charges some very high fees. She also owns a shady night club and appears to even run a call girl ring, we learn more about Baek in every episode.

Yoo Seung-Mok as Cho Jin-Woo.... The Deputy Chief Prosecutor for the Seoul Northern District office. Cho is Ha-Na's supervisor and he's also good friends with Jang.

Lee Yoo-Joon as Wang Min-Ho.... Ha-Na's assistant at the prosecutor's office.

Guest Stars for the first two episodes

  For a while will keep these five names at the top, they were the villains from the first two episodes with the bottom four working as a team. But they've still had no official outcome as all are still trapped in the Baek's dungeon.

Cho Hyun-Woo as Cho Do-Chul.... A sexual offender who was sentenced to life in prison but was released after only eight years to public outrage.  He was picked up at court by none other than our hero Do-Gi who brought this sicko to first Jang then to Baek's 'prison'. Ha-Na is on the case to find out what's happened to Cho with no success.... yet. Cho is still alive and licking as in the sixth episode he was able to escape from the dungeon.

Tae Hang-Ho as Park Ju-Chan.... The main owner of the fish factory and one of the most despicable men I've ever seen in a drama who gets his due justice at the end.

Song Duk-Ho as Cho Jong-Geun.... Park's assistant and he appears to be a bit slow. Cho watches over the workers/slaves at the fish factory, when he first saw Maria he fell in love and began to have his way with her. 

Kim Do-Yeon as Choi Jing-Sook.... Maria's 'handler' who is also beyond cruel, she's recruited all of the workers for Park's factory.

Jo Dae-Hee as Kim Hyun-Wook.... Corrupt police chief in this small town the factory is located in and works as Park's security man.

 Park is on the right, Choi in the middle and Cho on the left.

Guest Stars for the fifth through eighth episodes

Jeon Sung-Ii as Seo Young-Min....  Ex-employee of the U Data company, he quit after working there six months. Young-Min had been brutally harassed and bullied while at the company which is why he quit. But after leaving he was beaten to a pulp by the chairman Park and his group of 'execs', Young-Min had pressed charges but they were dropped through some very devious methods and he's currently in the hospital because of his injuries.

Baek Hyun-Jin as Park Yang-Jin.... Chairman of U Data and to say this man is brutal would be an understatement! In a way this story is a bit like the previous one as it has to deal with bulling but the other story was with high school boys and this is set in the hi-tech world. Park mainly hires workers who have a shady criminal background as he can control them.

Cho Ha-Seoko as Jung.... Director at U Data and in a way may be a meaner man than his boss Park is, he's the man with purple hair in the screenshots.

Kim Jae-Young as Ahn.... Manager of the Strategic Planning Department, like the other execs is also very brutal and he has the green hair in screenshots.

Kwak Min-Gyu as Jeon Jin-Won.... Former employee at U Data who quit after Min-Young did, he's fled to an island for fear of being hunted down!

U Data.... The largest global cloud/streaming in Korea and most of their profits appear to come from adult videos. They have a unique system where they can see what everyone writes in the cloud even if the e-mail isn't sent or a comment isn't published at a social media site. That's come in very handy to get back at those former employees such as Min-Young. 

Previous recaps

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

 What I've never mentioned up until now is the possible crush Go-Eun has on Do-Gi. That's really grown over the last few episodes though doubt we'll ever see a romance between the pair, Do-Gi does respect Go-Eun quite a bit but have the feeling love is something that he wants to avoid.... possibly because of his mother being murdered? Let's get to things as this may be a long recap, more happened in this episode than any other but will try my darndest to keep this the length of the previous posts and what a finale(!) which was slightly confusing. But did watch the ending again which cleared up most things, this was truly one of the all time best episodes I've ever viewed!

 **** When Do-Gi began working at U Data in this episode he changed his name slightly to Do-Ki which is the one I'll be using for this recap.

 No need to rehash what took place as I'm sure you read the previous post and it's one you definitely needed to read. That last recap ended with the prosecutor Ha-Na at the U Data office building, she was there with her faithful assistant Wang and the pair are in the third screenshot. Ha-Na had been told to drop the Young-Min case, the man who had been beaten senselessly in the prior recap. Her and Wang have been doing some digging on U Data and they don't like what's been found. Seems 90% of their profits are from the streaming of adult videos which is unknown to the Korean public. Plus there was the Young-Min beating case, another from 2020 along with many other shady affairs. When Ha-Na attempted to meet the chairman Park she was turned back at the entrance, U Data is run like a fortress and she'll only be allowed to enter with a warrant which will be impossible to obtain. That scene is in the top screenshot, the man with dark red hair is named Jung who is the main director of 90% of the employees. The man with the green hair is Lee who is the head of the Strategic Planning Unit which we soon learn is the most important one at U Data. Though they're execs both men are also brutal bullies who often beat and berate their employees.

 With no other options Ha-Na and Wang began to leave the massive U Data building when against all odds she recognized Do-Gi who was just entering the building. Ha-Na never knew his real name but as mentioned will be referring to him for now on as Do-Ki, it amazed Ha-Na that a man could go from being a tai driver one day to working at a high tech firm the following one! Ha-Na now feels as though she could have an ally with the company but the pair never met up again in this show. Back at the Northern Seoul District Office Ha-Na was called into a meeting with her superior Cho, also there was the owner of Rainbow Taxi Jang. At first Ha-Na didn't get along with Jang but after seeing the work Jang does with his Blue Bird victim's group she's come to respect him and victims so much more. There was one other person at this meeting who is in the second to last screenshot. His name is Kim and is a chief prosecutor, it was him who had Young-Min's case against U Data dropped. Ha-Na is so furious with this arrogant man who had probably been paid off by U Data. Also furious was Cho but his anger was towards Ha-Na as word has it she's still in the U Data case and also has continued the investigation on the Cho case which you'll be hearing about. Watching silently was Jang and he had a slight smirk on his face, he's noticed Ha-Na has been changing her views about the legal system and could she soon be an ally of Jang's 'revenge squad'?

 It's Do-Ki's first day at U Data and his resume is beyond top notch even though he knows so little about technology. No problem with that as Do-Ki has a small transmitter in his ear in which he can communicate with the tech whiz from Rainbow Taxi, Go-Eun. That's her in a few above screenshots, she's in a van a block away from the U Data building and has her own high tech setup in the van. Also working with her are the two Rainbow Taxi mechanics Choi and Park, they're posing as shoe shiners and keeping tabs on the U Data building. As it shows above Do-Ki is working on the Program Development Team and at the time was talking with the chairman of U Data Park. This company is run as if it's a Cult, Park rides along on his scooter all day either berating his employees or on occasion giving them huge bonuses. Do-Ki needed to get noticed by Park so he had Go-Eun create a virus that would shut down the system at U Data which occurred and the IT team said it would take five days to repair! However the uppity Do-Ki said he faced a situation like this while working in America and was able to resolve the issue within ten minutes to the amazement of the chairman Park who gave him a nice bonus in front of everyone else.

 But Do-Ki was looking for something else which was a promotion to the Strategic Planning Unit which is very secretive, if you want to bring U Data down that's where it'll happen. Back at that high tech van Go-Eun did some research, she's discovered most of the leaders at U Data have criminal records or a very shady background. That way the chairman Park will always have something on that employee and can use their backgrounds to his advantage. So Go-Eun somehow edited Do-Ki's resume to show he's been in some trouble in the past and no one at U Data noticed the changes? Do-Ki also had another plan to make Park notice him which took place the following night. Park loves the spirits and most nights he drinks to extreme excess, Do-Ki took advantage of that. When Park was leaving a restaurant after a wild drinking session Do-Ki set it up for Park to notice him having a scuffle with the mechanic Choi. That acting paid off superbly as Park loves violence, especially dishing it out. So Park told the Strategic Planning Unit leader Lee he wants Do-Ki to work in that unit, he still recalled how Do-Ki was able to solve that virus so easily. As you can see a bit below Do-Ki did get the promotion and also you see a screenshot of Go-Eun in the van observing the scene. She's noticed a face in Park's posse and where has she seem this man before, bring it up because could this man be part of her possible downfall?

 The computer network at U Data has been the hardest one to date for Go-Eun to hack into, does make sense as they're the largest and most popular cloud/streaming service in Korea. That system is always looking for hackers so Go-Eun has to be on her toes, Do-Ki does have some USB drives he inserts to get data and such but she has to constantly warn Do-Ki to remove them because of the security. What will make things even more difficult for Go-Eun and Do-Ki to communicate with each other is that he's been given a special phone because of his transfer to the Strategic Planning Unit. There's an app on the phone Do-Ki had to activate in front of his new boss Lee, that app tracks all of your movements as a GPS would and also any sites you may visit. As you can see above Ha-Na is still working on the U Data case and she's so upset at how the legal system is not getting justice for those victims that deserve it. In an odd twist she asked Jang to work with Young-Min once he got out of the hospital, he's there because of the brutal beating Park and his execs gave him in the last episode. It's an odd twist for Jang and his team have been working on the Young-Min case. Above is a man named Jeon who we met briefly in the last show and he used to work for U Data. He quit the company and fled Seoul fearing for his life but has returned and will help out Ha-Na in any way he can.

 Up to now have been taking about sixty screenshots for each episode. For this show took 74 of them as so much took place, can't go into every single thing so highly recommend viewing these screenshots which will help explain things a bit better. Baek is a character who hadn't been mentioned yet, she owns a mansion where she keeps Jang's prisoners in the basement dungeon. One current prisoner is named Cho and his story was told in the first recap, he's a sexual predator who was released from prison early to the outrage of all Korean citizens. Our taxi driver hero Do-Gi was able to nab Cho who has been in a dungeon cell since that first show. Baek has been having an affair with an older CEO named Kim who has told her his eyesight is getting so much worse, he may even become blind. She had a bright idea that why not have an operation and transfer Cho's corneas to Kim, that's been arranged and within hours the operation was taking place. However Cho wasn't sedated heavily enough and overpowered the medical staff, the operation was taking place in Baek's secret basement. Cho escaped from the room and was confronted by Baek's very strong bodyguard who appeared to have the upper hand against Cho. But not for long as the lowlife stabbed the bodyguard with a shard of glass, now Cho is free to wreak havoc and this story could be a key part of the next episode.

 What a frantic last ten or so minutes and am not sure yet of the outcome as I'm going to view this part again or at least the final five minutes. First Do-Ki had been caught conversing outside the U Data building with Ha-Na, she surprised him with her appearance and Do-Ki was secretly fuming with her there. Because that app on his phone tracks his movements and it also quite a bit of what he says but only on the grounds of U Data. The chairman Park wondered is this new ace employee Do-Ki a traitor and his posse scooped him right up. Do-Ki was brought to a warehouse where it appeared a savage beating would take place. But Do-Ki's acting was superb as he told Park there was no way he could have anything to do with a prosecutor and has pledged his loyalty to Park and U Data. It appears Do-Ki was believed but am now wondering was he completely? After that incident Do-Ki was with his new boss Lee who made the mistake of showing Do-Ki a video of the beating Young-Min had at the hands of Park and his henchmen. That was a major error as that infuriated Do-Ki to no end who the next evening drove Lee's car off the road and for now is this man alive or dead?

 The next day was Do-Ki's first in the Strategic Planning Unit, not much training was needed as he was told the way to make a lot of $$ was to upload a thousand videos a day to a gallery server. As mentioned before those videos are adult ones and did Do-Ki or Go-Eun know this? Do-Ki was handed a special key card for his terminal, he inserted that into his computer along with a flash drive that connected back to Go-Eun's van computer, a major mistake(?) as the security at U Data has increased drastically without her knowledge. Back at Rainbow Taxi the 'revenge squad' leader Jang has been once again reading over the reports of the case dropped against U Data. This all takes place in the last four minutes and we're not sure what Jang saw but it was upsetting. It appears the report explained what would happen if a hacker tried to copy U Data's illegal information and it wasn't pretty! Jang tried calling Go-Eun to abort the mission but wasn't able to make contact, he then called the mechanics Choi and Park telling them to pull Go-Eun out immediately as she was in danger!!!! When Do-Ki inserted the USB it began copying U Data's database to Go-Eun's computer but within a minute that process stopped. Warning signals began to flash around the U Data office and right after that some adult videos were uploaded to the web. To everyone's shock one of the adult videos featured Go-Eun's dead sister Jung-Eun, were these fake or possibly real? Who knows for now and all will be explained in the next two recaps. When the mechanics returned to Go-Eun's van she had disappeared and someone had trashed the equipment, her or the henchmen from U Data? WHEW(!), what an ending and haven't viewed the next episode yet so I'm also anxious to see what's going to take place. Top four screenshots below are from the final two minutes and will be back in a few days with the next pair of recaps.